Tension
by The Angry Lioness
Summary: Cindy has no time to sleep anymore, as Jimmy sees when she doses off. Pure JC fluff.


**Authors Note:** This is the first Jimmy Neutron fanfic I have done in ten years. I recently got into the show again and remembered how much I love Jimmy and Cindy. As a creative writing major, I pictured how their lives would be when they were in high school and so I wrote this. This was originally a chapter for a fanfic I drafted called "Demons" but the story has been discontinued.

I literally wrote this in an hour, so of course it's not going to be as great as it can be. This is pure fluff. What happens after the story is for you to guess. Enjoy.

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_Remember to study six hours a day._

_And get at least eight hours of sleep._

_And wake up before your brain can fully function._

_Go to school for seven hours. Have this cardboard for lunch; it's called pizza._

_And participate in sports/clubs/lessons for four hours._

_Also, we recommend you get a part time job._

_Don't forget college applications either._

Powder-puff, school, work, homework, and more came in the package of Cindy Vortex's life. It's not that she couldn't handle it or anything. After all, she was the second smartest student in her class and a star athlete. People at school would get out of her way when they saw her. She was feared and worshiped and she loved it.

Her schedule was like a sea of people. There was no way to get around them, as there was a lack of free space. Cindy was stuck where she was and had to make her way around as everyone else did.

In this room was an intercom that voiced its demands. It told her when to wake up, where to go, and what to do, occasionally reminding her to stay perfect.

She spent her years in the sea easily sliding past these people as they came and went. High school? Pfft, no biggie. But soon more people filled in as high school progressed. Too proud to admit it to anyone, the athletes, dojos, retail workers, teachers, parents and professors bumped into her. The intercom in the room roared at her to pay attention.

All of these things she was responsible for were becoming too much for her to handle. Even though she fought the best she could, she still lost.

If Purple Flurp Jolt couldn't keep a person awake, nothing could. She had, literally, three cans and they were no help at all.

An exam in AP chemistry had her sitting in the Neutrons kitchen with the genius himself, her study partner and secret boyfriend. She wouldn't have taken him as a dork if she didn't know what he looked like before. Now, she had reasons to look forward to seeing him.

The night before, she spent hours on the computer writing her essays for Harvard and Yale to get into their medical programs, then finished the homework she didn't get to continue earlier. That was after an away game with a school forty-five minutes away. Before she went to the game, she spent all her time after school getting her reading and homework out of the way.

Plus, after her study session, she had to go work a four-hour shift. She enjoyed working at Foxy Girl in the summer, but modeling and selling clothes during the school year was hectic. Who goes shopping on school nights anyway?

As she was taking in Jimmy's words and tracing her finger on the matching paragraph, Cindy's eyelids began to descend. She blinked several times in combat and reached for her Jolt. Even after a good long chug, they started to droop again like a poster that wouldn't stick to a wall. Her elbow ended up serving her cheek as a cane.

"Did you get that answer too?" Jimmy looked over at her, fully focused, born for the exam.

"What?" She muttered. Cindy literally couldn't hear him. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said did you get that answer too."

Cindy blinked many times again. "Answer? Yeah, sure." What was she doing falling asleep when she had work to do?

Jimmy could see that she looked lifeless. "Cindy, are you ok?" He questioned. Jimmy scotched over the booth to check for a fever.

"You're not sick. When was the last time you slept?" he was being too serious about it all, really.

"I haven't slept in over a day." Cindy responded with a tired yet, 'so what?' tone.

Chemistry was the last thing on his mind. "Why not?" Again, he was making a big deal out of nothing.

"I don't have any time." she answered simply.

After speaking those words, her torso craned down to assume a comfortable position on the table. Before she could plant her face into the book, Jimmy grasped her shoulders and hoisted her back up. He could feel serious tension in her shoulder blades. It was like the tension was going to rub off on him and multiply.

When he sat her up, her head hung right down.

"Cindy." He snapped his fingers and shook her a little. She just muttered 'what'.

She was drifting faster than before. Jimmy had literally never seen her so stressed and tired. And to have Cindy Vortex be that person too!

"I'm going to take you upstairs and put you in bed."

Did the boy she was insanely in love with just offer to carry her upstairs like a princess? Not take her home to her bed and leave her? "No Neutron, I'm fine."

Damn that Neutron for not listening. He kept his left hand on her shoulder and bridged his right arm under her knees. Cindy wouldn't admit that she loved how Jimmy brought her too close to his chest or how she was melting inside from the scent of his shirt. "Put your head on my shoulder." No problem Dr. Neutron, she thought.

"Gotcha." Jimmy whispered comfortingly. She produced one chuckle-snort, remembering the greatest day of her life.

This wasn't actually happening, Cindy knew. There was no way.

On his way to the stairs, her hand took hold of the rail.

"But I have to go to work."

Gently, he pulled her away. Her arm lolled down and swung slowly like a vine. "I'll call and let them know you can't come in. Don't worry about it."

"But my jobs really important."

"So is your sleep." He countered. "Please, for once, don't fight me, Vortex."

She wasn't hard to carry. But then again, Jimmy lifted weights in a gym in his lab. The genius still couldn't help but began to wonder if she stopped eating.

Jimmy pushed the door to his room with his foot, which had been renovated to better suit his age. Cindy's mind was in a state where she felt herself in the arms of a ghost.

He placed her down on his bed, removed her sandals then draped the sheets around her.

She had no more power left to protest. Jimmy removed her hair band and kissed her forehead. Cindy wasn't awake long enough to feel his hand brushing her cheek. The girl was out like a fire in a second.

He had to admit to himself Aurora was a suitable middle name for her, because she looked like Sleeping Beauty with her hair down. Jimmy went back downstairs, got his textbook and notes, and returned to his room to continue studying at his desk.

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**Authors Note:** I do not accept flames. I accept criticism.


End file.
